Children of Sun Tzu
The Children of Sun Tzu is a religious technological organization operating across the ruins of post-war China and Russia, with its roots stemming from the Chinese military and the government-sponsored scientific community from before the Third World War. Background The Children of Sun Tzu was founded by Gao Fushuai, a captain in the Chinese Army. Led by Colonel Mao Zexi, Fushuai was part of a team sent on January 3, 2076 to monitor progress at a Heimuer facility in Shanghai, which was conducting research on behalf of the Chinese government. On January 7, 2077, all Heimuer research and personnel – Fushuai and his team included – were relocated to the newly constructed Changchun Military Base in an effort to enhance security. On October 10, 2077, Captain Fushuai and his men discovered, to their horror, that the Heimuer scientists at Changchun were using military prisoners as unwilling test subjects for their genetically engineered Human Evolutionary Virus (H.E.V.). Morale in the base quickly collapsed and Colonel Zexi suffered a mental breakdown, eventually committing suicide five days later. In the midst of the crisis, Fushuai's men turned to him for leadership. Captain Fushuai proceeded to interrogate Ye Dafa, the chief scientist of the Heimuer research team stationed at Changchun, learning the extent of their experiments. Dafa, along with most of his research team, were subsequently executed for their crimes. Fushuai, now in control of the base, declared his desertion from the People's Liberation Army via radio on October 20. To his confusion, he received no response from the chain-of-command, as the P.L. Army was currently focused on escalating conflicts with the United States. Three days later on October 23, both nations launched their entire nuclear arsenals. Within two hours, the Third World War had ended and much of the Earth was reduced to a radioactive wasteland. The Changchun Military Base survived the onslaught, its numerous safety protocols protecting the soldiers within from the radiation and the H.E.V., which had been accidentally released and was now seeping into the newborn Wasteland. Two days after the attack, on October 25, Captain Fushuai sent one of his men, Xiaoning, outside in protective juggernaut armor to scout the area and gather readings on the atmosphere. Xiaoning reported no significant amounts of radiation in the surrounding area. After burying the bodies of Dafa and his executed staff members, Captain Fushuai and his men raided the base for various supplies and weapons schematics before sealing Changchun and venturing off into the desert, eventually managing to regroup with surviving members, including Fushuai's own teenage daughter. The following weeks of travel inflicted casualties on the party at the hands of various raider gangs and the harsh conditions of the Wasteland. In November 2077, Captain Fushuai eventually led his band of survivors to the safety of Jingling Valley, a government fallout shelter. In time, Captain Fushuai set the bunker as the headquarters for his new organization, the Children of Sun Tzu. As the Children's first Elder Monk, Fushuai sought to use Jingling Valley's resources to help rebuild civilization – no matter the cost. Society The Children of Sun Tzu is a neo-knightly order that rose from the ashes of the Chinese military in the years following the Third World War of 2077. The organization's tenets include the eradication of raiders and the veneration of technology. In recent decades, the Children has become quite reluctant in regards to sharing advanced technology with their fellow Wastelanders, whom they generally consider too ignorant and irresponsible to deserve such technology. The Brotherhood has been known to trade their technology with frontier communities and the NSK, but more often than not, they prefer to keep the more advanced material to themselves. Structure The Children is mostly composed of the descendants of those military officers, soldiers, and scientists, but aside from some outsiders among their ranks, the Children is as close to pure-strain humanity (prime normals) that may be found outside of a Vault. The ranks of the Children of Sun Tzu are generally recognized as being composed of the best and the brightest remaining to humanity, which means the CST is a relatively small organization, at least compared to the Neo Soviet Khanate. They make up for this with their intimidating arsenal of pre-and-post-Third World War technology: they have laser and plasma weapons, juggernaut armor, surgical cybernetic enhancements, combat implants, and CST Sentinels have the ability to erase an entire town from the map without a scratch. The vast majority of CST members are born into the Children - they very rarely accept outsiders into their ranks. While not an official policy, many members believe that in order to survive, all members are obligated to procreate. This results in a lack of tolerance for same-sex relationships, at least when the proponents of the aforementioned stance are concerned. Those born in the Children that want to be neither Mages, Vanguards nor Sentinels are free to leave - the Children does not believe in forcing anyone to serve them against their will. Although, members who decide to leave the Children will face the punishment of death for sharing any medical or scientific knowledge they have acquired with any outside faction. While they have great reverence for technology, most of the Children members also have great regard for non-technical fields of knowledge (and even for non-combat-related technology). It is one of the tasks a mage must handle, to keep and share the history to all members.